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Vulgar tot's 16-yr-old mom speaks

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Watch adults train tot to curse

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Watch adults train tot to curse02:18

The 17-year-old mother and her son had been removed from their home and placed in protective custody after the video surfaced last week, but officials said their removal had little to do with the video, CNN affiliate KETV in Omaha reported.

Last week, the mother defended her son in an interview with KETV. CNN is not identifying the mother or her son because they are juveniles.

"He's a smart little boy. All that cussing that he did, he doesn't do that," the mother said. "Somebody told him to do that. My son doesn't do that. I don't allow it."

She said a friend of her brother filmed the video while she was in another room.

"He was wrong for doing that ... posting the video up and getting us into this situation," she said. "Everybody that thinks I'm a bad mother, I'm not. I'm a good mother to my son. I teach him a lot. He's very smart."

The police union in Omaha posted the clip on its website to highlight what it called the "cycle of violence and thuggery" the community faces.

Afterward, the Omaha Police Officers Association came under fire from the city's police chief, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska and at least one community leader. They say posting the video needlessly antagonized minority communities, which make up about a quarter of Omaha's 409,000 residents.

The ACLU said the union's use of "racially charged language" was "very disconcerting."

Sgt. John Wells, the union's president, said the video was "disturbing" and "offensive."

"The focus here isn't on any particular ethnic group. The focus here is on the troubling behavior toward this child," Wells said. "This behavior is going to potentially lead this child down a path that is completely unhealthy."

Members of the police union turned the video over to the department's child victim unit, Wells said.